Combination antiretroviral therapy has led to a major reduction in HIV-related mortality and morbidity. However, HIV still cannot be cured. With the absence of an effective prophylactic or therapeutic vaccine, increasing numbers of infected people, emerging new toxicities secondary to combination antiretroviral therapy and the need for life-long treatment, there is now a real urgency to find a cure for HIV.

Ethiopia’s government has come up with an ambitious plan to halve new HIV infections, quadruple its annual condom distribution and put 85 percent of people who need life-prolonging HIV medication on treatment within five years.